Horror Movie A Day: June 2025

MAY 27, 2025

GENRE: PREDATOR, SERIAL KILLER
SOURCE: THEATRICAL (ADVANCED SCREENING)

With Jaws turning 50 this year, we’re gonna see a lot of shark related stuff; some tied to the film (there’s another documentary on the way!) while others will just be coasting on its success and popularity. Given the fickle nature of moviemaking and distribution, it’s almost impossible to believe that Sean Byrne and writer Nick Lepard knew that Dangerous Animals would end up being released almost 50 years to the day after Jaws’ debut, but I’m sure they’re relieved that they made one crucial choice along the way which will help avoid strict comparisons: this isn’t really a killer shark movie.

"But there's a shark on the poster and in the trailer!" you are saying, right? Yes, there are sharks in the movie and yes, at least one character is bitten by one. But the real menace of the film is a serial killer, Tucker, played by Jai Courtney. He runs a little service that takes people out on his boat and then lets them descend into the water in a shark cage so they can get some up close and personal time with the big fish. But I guess he’s already gotten enough Yelp reviews, because after they have their fun and they get back on board he cuts them up a bit to lure sharks over (less stinky than standard chum, I assume) and then tosses them into the water while videotaping the ensuing carnage.

But as he points out at a crucial moment in the film, the sharks are just doing what they do. This isn’t Jaws or any of its countless knockoffs; maybe it’s because it’s also an Australian movie but I honestly thought about Wolf Creek more than Amity Island as the film unfolded. Indeed, at one point the sharks actually ignore an easy victim Tucker has lowered into the water, as if to make sure the audience is fully aware that these animals aren’t inherently evil the way so many “killer shark” movies make them out to be (or else the title might be Evil Animals). Most die-hard Jaws fans probably know by now that Peter Benchley regretted his role in turning sharks into some kind of menace in our minds and spent the last few years of his life working on preservation and education about them, but it's rare to see a movie that makes the same point.

As for Tucker? He is indeed evil, and I’m happy to say Courtney is absolutely terrific in the role. Like most moviegoers, I didn’t care much for his early appearances in things like Die Hard 5 and Terminator Genisys (that they were also bad movies anyway didn’t help), finding him to be a rather bland presence. “Why do they keep pushing this guy on us?” I thought every time he popped up in something. But then he turned out to be one of the bright spots in Suicide Squad, and now with this it’s seemingly confirmed: this man is born to play wackos and bad guys, not action heroes. Don’t get me wrong, the film’s two heroes (Hassie Harrison as Zephyr and Josh Heuston as Moses) are also quite good and their chemistry is pretty charming. But this is Courtney’s show through and through; the type of showcase that had me momentarily wondering why I ever used to roll my eyes when I saw his name. He’s dialed up to 11 more often than not and is clearly just having FUN playing this role, and the movie actually loses energy sometimes when he’s been off screen for a while. If you told me ten years ago, walking out of that awful Terminator movie, that someday I'd be saying "I wish that movie had even more Jai Courtney!", I would have thought you were insane! And then you could have told me who would be elected President twice and I'd be like "Nope, the Jai thing is still harder to believe."

Back to the heroes – they’re no slouches, either. They have a rather inspired meetcute (Moses sees Zephyr stealing some ice cream and tells her he will report her to the store clerk unless she helps him get his car started) and hit it off rather (OK, fine) swimmingly, but as she is a commitmentphobe she bails on him (while he preps a breakfast for her! Heartbreaking!) and goes off to surf on her own, which is how she ends up running afoul of Tucker. So Moses spends a chunk of the movie just trying to find her, and while his biggest clue is a rather large leap in ultimately correct guesswork on his part, I forgave this bit of contrivance because it just meant they'd be reunited that much quicker. Honestly, while we're all here for the sharks and Jai, I wouldn't have minded watching a whole movie about these two figuring their stuff out to give love a chance!

This of course helps the back half immediately, because (again, with Wolf Creek on my mind) at no point was I convinced either of them would definitely survive the ordeal. There are no other major characters in the movie (the closest is an associate of Tucker's, and we aren't sure if he is aware of the murders which also adds a bit of suspense to the proceedings), so it really comes down to "OK, one of them will probably bite it, but WHICH one?" with the added bonus of not wanting either of them to die because I want them to get married someday, dammit! Lepard's script really nails that balance of racing through their meeting/falling for each other so we can get to the exciting stuff but not to the extent that I can't believe Moses is bothering to go through all this for someone he just met.

Also, the shark stuff looks good. Again, since this isn't a movie where they are the main threat, there's not a lot of traditional shark action, but at least it doesn't look like crap when it's time for them to make their mark. And the runtime is a tight 90 or so (bless you all, in the wake of the painfully long new Mission Impossible), with almost no real lulls to it (unless you hate LOVE, you monsters). Byrne knows what he's doing; it might not be the triumph that Loved Ones was, but it certainly proves he was no one hit wonder, and hopefully it won't take another decade for him to get another movie made (after Devil's Candy, which was decent but not exactly a must-see). And I'm glad IFC is giving it a decent push for its theatrical run, because it's the sort of big screen thriller we don't get to see often enough these days, and my man (yes, I'm calling him "my man" now, that's how good he is in it!*) Jai deserves to have a mass audience give him an apology.

What say you?

*OK he also sang along to Meat Loaf at the after-party, in a bar where they foolishly allow people like me to control the jukebox. He coulda won me over even if I just got out of Die Hard 5 with that move.